Merry Christmas from California

December 30, 2013

Hey Hey!!

 

It was really good seeing you this week for a Christmas visit. Definitely the highlight of my week! I'm glad everyone is still smiling and doing good! I was able to rebound pretty quick this time around. Usually I'm trunky for a few days, and just long to be home with you guys, It's just so weird to see you all together and me not there with you, but I was able to handle it better this time around. I think it's a sign of how old I'm getting in the mission.. Pretty scary!! Anyway, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, Our mission president told us to read about Moroni, and as many of us were having our first Christmas away from home, he told us to try and understand loneliness, and we could grow closer to our Savior by doing that. Moroni had to have a pretty good understanding of it, and our Savior definitely understood it. A verse stood out to me as I read in Moroni 7 as he mentions that the calling he had from the Savior was a "gift." I just love how he saw in that way as he stood alone, the last disciple, and the last Nephi, being chased and persecuted because he wouldn't deny that his Savior existed. He knew Jesus Christ and stood next to him till the death, and looked at it as a gift from God. I love that, and I hope I can become a man like Moroni someday!

Well, Nothing much is new since we last visited! A boy we were teaching in Moreno Valley was baptized the day after Christmas, and President let My companion and I go back and see it. It was good to see him, and to see the families from the Nuevo ward that came to the baptism. Super cool!!

 

Our recent convert K was confirmed this week and received the precious gift of the Holy Ghost. She is leaving soon and going to the military, which seems pretty intense from everything she's told us, but she seems excited. It's what she wants to do. I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a smart girl!

 

We taught a really good lesson on The Restoration, our investigator understood it, and from the way she acted I'm sure she felt the spirit. She is the friend of one of the members of the Ward, and has come to church consecutively for 4 weeks. She agreed to be baptized. We'll set a date with her this week. I believe she is one of those "Elect" that we speak of, that hear the voice of the Savior as it is spoken by His servants. Pretty neat!!

 

Love, Elder Higgins

Christmas Day Skype call

Zone Conference

December 21, 2013

    

    La Sierra Zone

    

    Elder Higgins got some new glasses! 

    Fun picture someone in California sent me....a nice surprise text message!!

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

December 16, 2013

 

I most definitely got your Christmas box of Christmas spirit. Thank you so much!! We've been hyped up on Christmas spirit all week. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear! I set up the tree, and the nativity (The beginnings of it) on the wall behind it. We have a precious, little Christmas corner in our apartment. So thank you for that!!

 

This week has been awesome! K-- is still all set to get baptized this weekend. Her family is kind of against her being baptized, but she doesn't seem to let that stop her. Just pray for her family to not do any thing drastic this week. She understands everything, and has committed to live the commandments. She's super elect!! Other than that, we are trying to find new people. I like being in finding mode! We find so many interesting people!!

 

The other night we found this young man, from the great country of El Salvador. We talked with him a while as we walked, and set up a return appointment. When we passed by his house the next day he let us in, and as we tried to begin teaching something seemed to bother him, and so after prying a little bit he shared his concerns, we asked what God would want him to do, and he knew what the answer was. We have another appointment this week with him. We left him Jacob 2 to read. Hopefully that will help him make the right choice, and he can gain a testimony of The Book of Mormon.

 

We have a list of part member families in the ward that we are visiting. It's kind of sad to see a lot of the families that have distanced themselves from the church, and won't make the effort to come back. That was basically our week. We don't have many people we are working with currently.

 

We will be with the family N-- for Christmas. They are super cool. They have all the gadgets necessary to Skype. I'm looking forward to "seeing" my family this Christmas! It will be so fun!! Anyway, that's about everything. Actually, we did visit one family that had two great Danes, and they were gigantic. His head was practically up to my chest while he was standing on all fours. They would do what Jake would do and shove their bodies into to you so that you would pet them. They were super cool!!

 

Anyway, I love you! Happy Christmas!!  Love, Elder Higgins!!

Feeling the Christmas Spirit in Cali

December 9, 2013

Hola!!

 

Heyy! How is everybody? Has it been snowing up there in Riverton?? I hope everyone's Christmas Spirit is going through the roof! 

 

I like the ward so far. It was weird being in a new ward this Sunday though, where I don't know anyone. A lot of really cool people introduced themselves to me though, and I know I will soon feel at home there. And as for investigators we don't have too many. We are trying to find a lot more. K--is one of them I've met, and she has a baptismal date for December 22nd and she seems ready and willing to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized in His church. We are trying to find new people. We have got quite referrals, which is cool. hopefully some of those will pan out this week, and we can teach some new people.

 

Zone leader is going well. My companion and I had to prepare a Zone Development Meeting in just a few days. That was pretty crazy. We had to make a "zone plan" for the month of December and then present it on Friday. It went rather smoothly considering we had 2 days together to plan it. We went on exchanges with the Ap's (Assistants to the President in case you didn't know) on Thursday. I went with Elder C in his area, and it was a good opportunity to learn from him. But amidst all that we don't do much else. We are just here to answer everybody's questions.

 

I'm glad you are feeling the Christmas spirit!! I was indeed singing Silent Night with you. We arrived late at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional broadcast and missed Thomas S. Monson speak, but I loved hearing everyone else. Keep up the holiday cheer. I found a scripture in acts 20 that I'm sharing with everyone we eat dinner with. It says, "More blessed are those that give, than those that receive." and that's what Christmas is all about. What can I give this year?? that's the question we should be asking ourselves. I love it!! 

 

Love,  Elder Higgins

 

Transfer Time!!!

Hey! I'm glad everyone has been having happy holidays!!  We spent ours with the A-- Family. They had never had turkey on thanksgiving, and My companion knows how to cook, (he wants to be a chef when older) and said we could cook them one. They liked the idea and bought us all the stuff we needed to cook a turkey. They looked up a Martha Stewart recipe. You gotta love her! Then we spent 5 hours over there helping them cook the turkey. It turned out really well! It still didn't compare with the turkeys you and Dad make, but it was good, and we had a good time!! We also went to a turkey bowl with the Samoan ward. I'm still sore from it. 

So we got transfer calls on Saturday.  This was a really wild transfer call for me. So I'm getting moved over to Jurupa, which is by Riverside. President also wants me to be a zone leader. So that's exciting. But that's not even the crazy part. Guess who I'm going to be with?? Elder Moss!! Elder Moss and I get to be zone leaders together. I was super surprised to be going back to him. That rarely happens, and never this soon. It's crazy too because usually you get placed with someone that has already been a zone leader for a while, but Elder Moss and I both have never been zone leaders. So we have no idea what we are doing. I'm sure we will figure everything out though! As you can imagine I'm pretty excited. 

I definitely am going to miss this ward though. I've grown pretty close to a few families, and I didn't like saying goodbye to them, some tears were shed....The Bishop gave me a big hug and thanked me for my service here. So all those experiences were really bittersweet. I could feel the bond of charity, that love that only Christ gives to us. I knew the names of everyone, and I had heard all their testimonies, and I really will miss them. It will be kind of hard to start over, but I'm excited to meet new people, and for all the new experiences I'm going to have with Elder Moss.. Again! :)

I'm going to miss my companion as well. He always made me laugh real hard. He's going to take good care of all the families here. 

It's the best time of the whole year! I know you guys have the Christmas spirit right?? I hope so!!

I love you all!!   Love, Elder Higgins